England were knocked out of the World Cup at the weekend and I was alarmed at how little it affected me. I was disappointed of course, but it was nothing compared to the feeling I had in Euro 1996 or France 1998.
Why was this? Well, there were probably a number of reasons. Firstly there’s my love for cricket. If the England cricket team beat Australia it can’t be a bad sporting day in my book.
Secondly, I was playing cricket on Sunday and missed the first 20 minutes of the England game. Incidentally, it was a game my team won and I managed to contribute with the bat too.
So the World Cup wasn’t top of my list of priorities which is maybe why I didn’t feel too down about it all. The main reason though is how far away from reality the players are.
Yes, they will be disappointed about the way they performed, but let’s face it they will go on holiday for a couple of weeks, return to their clubs and start the season like nothing happened.
John Terry, for example, was abysmal in England’s defeat yesterday, but he will go back to Chelsea as the captain of the Premier League champions and be adored by the Stamford Bridge crowd once more.
This is because, for a lot of these players, their club team seems to be what they care about most. This is where all their money comes from and this is where they are hailed as “superstars”. If you get told something enough you start to believe it, don’t you?
Prior to the tournament all the players were told that they are good enough to win the World Cup. They were told that they were some of the most talented players in the world and that they could be a match for anyone. The World Cup odds even made them third favourites for the tournament.
Is this really the case though? If you made up a World XI would any England players be anywhere near it? Just because they play in the most entertaining league on Earth, doesn’t mean they are the best players in the world.
You can look at the Champions League form of Premier League clubs in recent years and with the exception of last year, it has been good.
However, where would Chelsea be without Didier Drogba? How far would Arsenal have got without Cesc Fabregas? Would Manchester United have won it if they didn’t have Cristiano Ronaldo?
In reality, anyone with a betting system knows England’s odds are always shorter than they should be due to the patriotic fever which is whipped up before big tournaments.
The fact is English clubs have a few good domestic players who can form a successful team with the helping hand of some foreign players. When England are left to do it themselves, that is where the problem lies.
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